At 2:50 yesterday afternoon, an adult female Magnificent Frigatebird was spotted by biologists working on Outer Green Island. The phone message I received said, “Heading south, towards Cape Elizabeth.” Later in the afternoon, I received a call from another birder, who at 3:30pm watched an adult MALE Frigatebird pass overhead at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth.

Wow! Magnificent Frigatebirds are extremely rare north of southernmost Florida. They have occurred a few times as far north as Maine, including one just last summer that was spotted from Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park in Freeport. Now, adult male Frigatebirds are nearly impossible to identify – Great Frigatebird and Ascension Island Frigatebird have an incredibly remote, but not impossible, chance of occurring in the Eastern U.S., and Lesser Frigatebird has already occurred in Maine – one of only a few records for the continent. So, we can assume (but only assume) that these were in fact Magnificent Frigatebirds. And, if you have ever seen one, they truly are magnificent!

Interestingly, this does not seem to be an isolated event. In the past few days there have been multiple sightings of Frigatebirds in the Northeast. A male was spotted at Sandy Hook, NJ (my old patch!) on the 18th, and one seen over the nearby Navesink River a short time later was likely the same bird. That same day, an immature was over Cape May, NJ, and a female was spotted from Cape Cod. This is really an amazing irruption of this fascinating oceanic species. So, get to the beach, and look up!

With visions of frolicking Frigatebirds dancing in my mind, I spent the morning at Biddeford Pool. Hoping that the frigatebird from Cape Elizabeth yesterday afternoon has spent the night in Saco Bay, I spent the first hour and a half of the day seawatching from the East Point Sanctuary. Despite the southwesterly winds (not conducive to seawatching), I tallied 68 northbound Double-crested Cormorants and 149 White-winged Scoters. A handful of Northern Gannets and Common Terns (my first of the year) foraged offshore (a hopeful sign, as a hungry Frigatebird would be attracted to feeding seabirds since they make their living pirating the catches of other species), and at least one migrant flew in last night, as I watched a Baltimore Oriole fly in from off the water, rocketing to the first tree it could find. Three Great Cormorants lingered as well.

Scanning the water, I spotted a loon with a thin, straight bill; gently rounded head; a thick, puffy neck, and a dark throat. Closer inspection revealed that this bird was indeed a Pacific Loon, a rare bird indeed, and even rarer in Maine in the spring. Although I have seen many in Alaska, and one each in Maine and New Jersey, I had not seen a breeding plumaged bird on the East Coast before. It’s a really snazzy bird, and a rather late date for this species.

So, no Frigatebird for me, but I certainly could not complain about this consolation prize! Further birding around Biddeford Pool (always with at least one eye on the sky) produced a total of 11 species of warblers, including a full-scope view of a singing male Blackburnian Warbler. I watched a Merlin pluck its brunch (an unidentified small bird) while soaring overhead. A Philadelphia Vireo near the edge of Great Pond was a treat; it’s uncommon in Maine, and I rarely see more than a few each spring. Shorebird numbers are building, with lots of Black-bellied Plovers at most beaches and mudflats, and my first 2 Short-billed Dowitchers and my first 7 Ruddy Turnstones of the spring on the mudflats out behind Hattie’s Deli.

So, while you’re out looking for Frigatebirds along the coast, keep an eye on the sky everywhere else, as this weather pattern (a few days of strong southwest winds followed by a strong cold front and northwest winds) at this time of year is perfect for producing another rarity from the south (that have also been seen between NJ and Massachusetts of late): Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites. I know I’ll be looking!